Howard Smith Wharves, Brisbane's newest precinct

It's been a slow ferment, involving years of consultation,
planning and community engagement, but the long-awaited makeover of
Brisbane's historic Howard Smith Wharves is finally approaching
kick-off. Construction will start before the end of the year at the
3½ hectare riverfront site, says Adam Flaskas who, together with
Elisha Bickle, leads HSW Nominees, developers of the project.

The venture is ambitious. Plans include an upscale three-storey,
164-room Art Series Hotel, half a dozen restaurants, a bakery, a
coffee roastery, a craft brewery, a dramatic over-water bar, an
exhibition and events centre and more, all ranged alongside more
than 2.7 hectares of parklands with uninterrupted city and water
views. The eastern part of the site is destined to become an edible
landscape, growing produce for onsite cafés and restaurants. The
old wharf and heritage buildings will be restored. Public spaces,
which make up 80 per cent of the precinct, will be activated and
used for community events ranging from food markets and festivals
to cultural shindigs. "It already has an amazing aura - there's a
very distinct feeling here which will set it apart from other
precincts," says Flaskas. "As soon as you set foot on the site
you'll see the growing gardens, the old heritage buildings, the
cliff face; you'll know you're in the Howard Smith Wharves
precinct."

Flaskas says they want to work with the site, rather than impose
upon it. Architects Woods Bagot have drawn up the master plan and
also worked on the design of the new exhibition building. "We don't
want to disrupt the feeling, we want to work with the [site's]
aura. We want people to be baking bread, roasting coffee, brewing -
even distilling, making vodka and gin - we want people who are
passionate producers growing amazing produce that's used in the
precinct and in the farmers' market."

It may all sound utopian, but the Bickle dynasty has a deep
history in Brisbane hospitality, running everything from Valley
nightclubs and bars, to restaurants and even a public golf course.
Bickle and Flaskas both have form when it comes to conjuring magic
from forgotten sites. Together with Siobhan Bickle (Flaskas's wife)
and David Wadley (Elisha Bickle's husband), they recently helped
transform a rundown surfer motel at Cabarita Beach in northern New
South Wales into Australia's top boutique beach getaway, Halcyon House, which not only took recent
honours as Australia's Top Regional Hotel in Gourmet
Traveller's 2016 Australian Hotel Guide, but also scooped the
award for Best Service.

The Howard Smith Wharves precinct is slated to open late 2017
and Bickle and Flaskas say, first and foremost, they're building it
for the locals. And as locals themselves, they plan to be involved
for the long haul. "There will be people from interstate and
overseas who come and enjoy the precinct," says Flaskas. "If you're
in Hong Kong, for example, you want to go where the locals eat, so
by default international travellers are going to want to come here,
as well as locals."

They describe the project as a once-in-a-generation opportunity
to give Brisbane a precinct that offers an agenda-setting mix of
lifestyle, tourism and entertainment activities, all done in a
sustainable way. "It would sound a bit arrogant to call it a
game-changer," says Flaskas. "We're just excited to bring to
Brisbane opportunities that don't currently exist."